It's that time again!

If your anything like me, you've spent many holidays gathering with family, friends, loved ones, AND your worst enemy. Yep, I said your worst enemy. Wonder who that is? Your plate!

Growing up in a middle class neighborhood surrounded by the suburban flare of Christmas music at Thanksgiving time, my family and I spent the holidays feasting on what seemed like the best meal of the year. With soft, buttery corn bread, fried turkey slices, collard greens filled with ham hocks, macaroni and cheese, and dressing loaded on or plates we gathered around the table and said our grace. Boy were we thankful! Thankful for all the carbs and cholesterol we were about to eat. While we were gracious, we were unaware of what we were doing to our bodies. Spoon after spoon, we stuffed our faces and then went back for seconds. I know you all can relate.

We ate this way for years, until I became health conscious that is.

Fast forward to 2020......

This year, we took a turn for the better and I couldn't be more pleased with our results. This year we will feast on vegan, gluten free dishes, much like our all time favorites. For our Thanksgiving spread we made jackfruit wings and tenders, mac and please, collards greens, corn bread, dressing, "meat" loaf, the works! You read that right. We created a full vegan and gluten free meal for the holidays!

It has been a pleasure to share this experience with my family and now I'm going to share it with you! Don't you feel lucky!

This may get a little overwhelming at first but take a deep breath. I'll start with the basics.

Everyone loves greens for Thanksgiving but you don't need the extra fat to get the umph! Just sauté your onions and peppers of choice before adding the greens and I promise you won't miss the lard. If needed add a couple of drops of liquid smoke to the pot and if you enjoy sugar in your greens, I suggest trying a little male syrup and apple cider vinegar. Remember, season to your liking. You can never have to much or too little! On to the dressing.

Dressing is also a fan favorite that's simple to play with. Find a great gluten free cornbread recipe and/or gluten free bread to use instead of your traditional wheat bread. 'Just egg' egg substitute is also important in this dish. Surprisingly we found ours from Wall Mart right next to the chicken eggs. And that's it! Substitute these 2 ingredients for a wonderful vegan and gluten free dressing that the entire family will love.

Aside from dressing and greens, we especially love macaroni and cheese so we recreated our traditional version with dairy free cheese(viola brand is preferred) and gluten free noodles(glutino brand is great). Again, 'just eggs' is a great egg substitute if you want your mac and please baked. Gluten free oat milk pairs well too. I personally prefer stove top. Anyway, the trick to the mac is to watch the noodles! Gluten free noodles don't have the same elasticity as regular wheat noodles so if overcooked they will fall apart. Other than that prepare your mac like usual and don't be shy with the "cheese."

The last tip I'd like to share is the most time consuming. But we can't have a meal without any meat right?

Jackfruit is freakin amaze-balls as a meat substitute! We used fresh jackfruit to recreate or Thanksgiving "chicken." Cutting the jackfruit was the hardest part but you can use canned jackfruit if you'd like. Just soak the meat of the fruit in seasoned no- chicken broth (I used veggie broth and a bullion cube) then boil it down into there's no water left. Wrap the seasoned meat in rice paper, fry or bake it up and voila!

Our second choose of "meat" this year is a loaf. This one is a bit more tricky but I'll make it simple just for you.

Our loaf this year is made with eggplants. Strange huh? Not at all!

First you want to sauté onions, garlic, and peppers in a pan. While they sauté, dice up 2 nice sized eggplants and throw those in too. When the eggplants are tender, its time to mush it all together. Not with your hands! Duh.... Throw them in a blended with some chickpeas and black beans. Next, add in your gluten free bread crumbs, nutritional yeast, and seasonings along with one serving of 'just egg.' Mix everything well and bake it to perfection!

See, I told you it's simple! Now its your turn. If this blog wasn't detailed enough and you need more detailed instructions, look out for our holiday meal prep sessions coming soon.

There's so much I'd love to share with you all! Until next time, I hope you all have a wonderful, safe, and blessed holiday. Happy Thanksgiving!!

Be good, be great, and be well!